Robert
Despite suffering memory loss from a football accident, Robert Eckeheart won't let anything knock him down. 'The Daydreamer '''can find the positives in anybody ... if he can just remember who they are. Biography Out of the four Eckeheart kids, Robert always stood out because he radiated happiness. He befriended nearly everybody he met, as nobody could resist the kind boy with the contagious smile. As he got older, Robert knew he wanted to grow up to either become a doctor like his mother or play professional football. He idolized his mother’s success and intelligence, but he also spent a good amount of time learning the ins and outs of football with his uncle. He was a natural at the sport, so nobody was surprised when puberty graced him with the broad shoulders and muscular physique of a footballer. Robert’s life was fabulous when he hit the tenth grade: his grades were up, he was the star player of the varsity football team, and he had a wonderful girlfriend. One fateful game in October changed everything, as Robert was knocked down by an illegal tackle. Despite the helmet, his head absorbed most of the impact and he was knocked unconscious. He awoke five days later with a serious concussion, which had caused a severe loss in his ability to retain short-term memories. This new impairment completely changed his life, as he now easily gets distracted, is sometimes unable to follow conversations, and has a hard time remembering small things. Still, Robert has not let this destroy his optimistic demeanor, as the athlete still sees the best in every situation. Robert wants to win the prize money on Total Drama Island: For Your Entertainment to pay his way into his dream college. He had a scholarship for football, but the school became aware of his condition and retracted the offer, as they thought he would not be able to achieve the grades needed to keep it. During ''For Your Entertainment... Robert was distracted when he was introduced in ...Fifteen Minutes of Fame, and even Chris felt sympathy when he informed the audience of his brain injury. In his interview with Opal Winfrey, he told the story of his accident, captivating the audience for his fifteen minutes and earning a point. In The Bachelor Isn't Interested, Robert greeted Cara and Isaac when they arrived at breakfast late, and led Cara to The Oscars' table when he realized she was uncomfortable around bacon. He hit the target in the first portion of the challenge. At a team meeting for the second half of the challenge, Robert got distracted by a prop book, but Angel brought him back. After losing the challenge, Robert, Cara, and Camille were unsure who to vote for and came to Isaac and Angel for help, and they collectively agreed to vote for Eric after he annoyed them by blasting his music. Robert and Paul made breakfast the morning of Video Killed the Reality Star. He tried to cheer up tired Monique and sensed Elena and Gabe were doing something to intimidate Minerva. In the confessional, he admitted he had a hard time finding anything good to say about Elena or Gabe. Robert was chosen to be one of the four rappers in The Oscars' music video, and he kept his team's spirits up despite the horrible song. Later, he was let down because he was unable to memorize his lines, but Irina helped by covering his face with a mask so the audience couldn't see his lips. He was the only one to clap after The Oscars' final video was presented. In Safest Catch, Robert was confused by Paul wearing a rain poncho instead of a bathing suit, and joked about the poncho with Angel through the challenge. When The Oscars' boat hit rough waters, the team all held onto the gentle giant to prevent themselves from falling overboard. Despite the rain and the difficult challenge, Robert kept his spirits high and helped Camille overcome her uncertainty of the boat. He pulled most of the weight when his team reeled in crates, but caused them to lose a lot of progress when he was distracted by a seagull and dropped their rope into the water. Avery confronted Robert and belittled his brain injury, blaming him for their team's inevitable loss. The athlete was noticeably upset through the rest of the challenge. After the challenge, Robert talked to a photo in his room of his girlfriend and explained that the challenge had broken his spirits and that he wanted The Oscars to not treat him any differently despite his injury. He was startled by Avery's voice from the neighboring room and ran into Angel, who invited him to a meeting to discuss the elimination. When Angel tried to get Robert to explain to the team what Avery had said to him on the boat, he refused and remained withdrawn from his teammates. That night, Robert surprised his team by voting for himself. Deciding that Total Drama was not the right place for him since he would be treated as a sob story rather than an average contestant, he eliminated himself from the competition, saving Avery from elimination. In Sing Your Heart Out, the attitude of the entire cast was impacted by the loss of Robert's positive presence and willingness to do chores. When asked to comment on Robert in Flashing Lights, even Avery only had good things to say. In Thirteen, the remaining Oscars saw a clip from a RealityGossip interview with Robert and Josh on television. When Chef's trailer was attacked, the cast realized the zombie was actually Robert, who had been "killed" at the press conference. Later in the challenge, Robert was seen rummaging through trash cans around the set. In Flashback, Robert was chosen to help Allison in the challenge, his physical strength aiding her in the building portion. In After Elimination, Robert mainly hung out with Angel and revealed that he wanted Paul to win the competition. Robert appeared one last time in the finale hosting a mini-challenge of paddling a raft out to sea to collect a flag from a buoy, based off of the episode in which he quit. Audition Tape The video began with a clip from a high school football game. The shot followed a large player with the number seventeen on his jersey as he maneuvered the field. Eventually, he intercepted a pass and bolted for the end zone, dodging opposing players to earn a touchdown. The spectators burst into cheers. The scene cut to a face leaning too close the camera, brows furrowed in confusion. “Hey, how do you turn this on again?” “The button on the right.” A female voice replied from behind him. The screen-blocking face's confusion only seemed to grow. “Here, honey, I’ll do it.” The scene cut again to show that the young man was now out of the camera’s personal space and sitting on a couch several feet away. “Hello! My name is Robert Eckeheart, I’m eighteen years old, and I’m from Fort Wayne, Indiana. I’m very kind and friendly and enthusiastic, so I think I could get along really well with everyone just like … um …” Robert paused and scratched the side of his head. “You know who I’m talking about. The big guy with the bad gas?” “Owen?” The camera girl suggested. “Yes, him! I think I could get along with all of my teammates just like he did.” Robert gave the camera a huge smile. “My one greatest passion is football. I love to play, and according to a lot of people I’m really good at it. I really hope that I can find a clip to show you guys of me-” “Sweetie, we already found the clip.” The camera girl supplied again. “The one from the game against Central?” “Oh, right. Thanks, Imani.” Robert’s smile faltered a bit. “As you can see, I’m a bit … forgetful because of a football accident I had, but don’t think that’s going to stop me. With or without a short-term memory, I can still do well in the game. So, please pick me to be on the show!” Trivia *Robert was the fourth contestant eliminated and the third from his team. He received three silver stars, but returned the last one when he quit. *It had always been planned for Robert to quit in the fourth episode. This is because if he didn't quit, there was no way his teammates would vote him out because of his personality. The only way he could be eliminated otherwise was if he automatically lost a challenge like Lindsay had in Total Drama Island, though I felt that this was a better way for him to exit the show. *Robert is the tallest contestant this season. *Because Robert is so much larger than many of the other contestants, his stereotype at one point was "The Gentle Giant." His size was only really featured in Safest Catch when he is used as a support when the ship is rocking, so I decided to change his stereotype to focus less on his height. *Robert's character model was always meant to look older than eighteen, as I feel like every high school has that one guy who looks like an adult when compared to the other students. *Robert was chosen to be a football player both because it is a sport commonly associated with concussions and head injuries and because most football players in fiction are portrayed as cruel or vain. **Ironically, I ended up presenting research on traumatic brain injuries in college. Even though it was years after creating FYE, I was still reminded of Robert. *When redoing Robert's bio, I decided to add in that he has a girlfriend in order to show just how little he allows his injury to limit his everyday life. She is featured helping him in his audition, where her name is revealed to be Imani. Robert and Imani have been dating since before he had his injury and she stayed with him despite the memory trouble. Gallery Robert- Alternate Outfit.png|Alternate Outfit Robert- Pajamas.png|Sleepwear Robert- Swimwear.png|Swimwear Robert- Video Killed the Reality Star.png|Robert dressed as a rapper in Video Killed the Reality Star Robert- Thirteen.png|An undead Robert in Thirteen ﻿ Category:Characters Category:Oscars Category:Males Category:Contestants